Ragged and Renewed
by MyLittleObsessions
Summary: Mike Schmidt has been off the radar for a while now. Upon returning to his former place of employment, he discovers that after changing location, and a few other things, the building was condemned. Something much worse than ghosts are roaming the halls of the abandoned establishment. Our beloved night watchman is about to get himself involved in something he shouldn't have.
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

"The building has been condemned. No one is allowed near." The police officer turned to the young man who had attempted to approach a large building with the sign out front that read 'Freddy Fazbear's Pizza' with several of the letters missing and the remaining letters' lights smashed out.

"How long?" The potential intruder seemed inquisitive. "I used to work there as the night watchman a few years ago." The officer's eyes suddenly widened and he whispered "God. How awful. Risking your life like that. A few years you said you've been gone for? If that was when you were working there, then you must be Mike Schmidt, correct?"

Mike stood a little bit straiter. "Yeah. How did you-?"

"We pulled a list of the former employees when the place was shut down for our investigation."

"What investigation?"

The officer looked around before speaking. "They found a body inside one of the animatronic suits there about 6 months ago. Only this time, we had a witness to the murder. From what the official reports say, he was shoved into the suit by one of the animatronics. When the incident occurred, we attempted to retrieve the robots. However they had all become even more hostile. Anyone, even employees, who attempted to enter the building, were killed almost instantly. The building cant be destroyed due to possible damage to the surrounding area. As for the animatronics, they cannot leave the premises due to the range of the wireless server that they all run on. So the building is vacant and no one is allowed to enter."

Mike looked at the ground and mumbled to himself. "I knew they could be hostile at night, but during the day? It seems unreal. Even they wouldn't want to be exposed. They still love the children. Had they killed someone, they'd get blood on the fur of their suits and be caught. Why would they risk that?"

"What fur? They were made of plastic and metal, that's all." Michael's head instantly whipped up.

"No, they aren't. All four have fur suits on the outside of the endoskeleton."

The officer looked confused for a moment, then replied, "Oh, right. You weren't here when the animatronics were replaced.

"They replaced the old animatronics? Why?"

"The owners only said that they wanted to redesign the new characters and fix some technical problems. By technical problems, most assumed they wanted to prevent something like 'The Bite of '87' from happening again with the new models."

"What happened to the old robots?" Michael once again had a questioning look on his face.

"From what we can tell, still inside the building. More than likely, they were put into storage. You seem awfully curious about this." The officer was obviously suspicious with all of Mike's questioning.

Mike thought up a quick response. "I was just wondering about it. I have been gone for a long time. It took me a while to even find the place considering they changed locations. Sorry for wasting your time, sir."

The officer turned and walked back to the patrol car that he had used to pull over beside Mike initially, and before climbing in said, "Just stay out of trouble."

"No promises." Mike joked as the officer pulled away. As soon as the car was out of view, his joking attitude was gone and he glanced back at the deserted building. "I wonder..." He left with a gleam of curiosity in his eyes and returned with a flashlight and a determined demeanor. "I managed to survive for five whole nights. Just a few moments should be a breeze."

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><p><strong>Thanks for checking out my first story. I thought this would be something cool to write out after I actually had a nightmare about it. I literally woke up in a cold sweat, practically screaming and went "I'm gonna write this!" Hopefully chapters will be updated quickly. I'll upload as I write. Feedback, reviews and POLITE criticism are appreciated.<strong>

**-MyLittleObsessions**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

**Unlikely Allies**

It was dark out now and the front doors of the establishment were extremely difficult to open. It took a few tries and it made a lot of noise. If anything was in the building, and there certainly was, it had to have heard him.

"Great. So much for going unnoticed." Mike thought to himself for a moment. _I should be careful_. _This isn't worth dying over_. He slowly takes his first few steps into the building.

Mike instantly takes notice of the decayed state of the walls and floor, as well as the intense odors coming from further inside the building. The state of things was surely different compared to the last time he had been into Freddy's. He carefully turned on his flashlight as to not make any more noise than necessary, and continued his search of the building.

"It's completely run down. It only took six months for it to get this bad?" After getting a decent distance into the main hallway, taking notice of the once colorful and child-friendly posters, now torn and rotting, Mike suddenly trips.

"Ah! OUF!" He lands strait onto the tile floor, face first. Pulling himself off the ground and onto his hands and knees, Mike lifts his head to find himself face-to-face with a bundle of wires with two blank animatronic eyes staring back at him. Instinctively, he jumps backwards with a loud gasp, then sits back catching his breath.

"Oh for the love of everything, that scared me. W-wait a second." As he stared at the damaged robot, he started to notice something, there was still a body lying on the floor underneath it. Shining the flashlight on the figure, he was able to ascertain what this animatronic was. Mike slowly crawled back towards the deactivated robot and placed his hand on the furry shoulder of the suit.

"Bonnie... What happened to you?" He continued to stare into the lifeless robotic eyes and there was almost the sound of pain in his voice.

He never truly hated the animatronics. What had happened wasn't their fault and Mike knew this. Even though they had been possessed during the time of his

employment, Mike remembered going to Freddy's as a kid with his parents. They never showed a hint of hostility. That is until 1987, when the kids disappeared and the infamous 'Bite of '87' occurred. Did they actually have emotions of their own?

As he sat there thinking to himself, the dead eyes on the animatronic doll suddenly lit up. All in the same instant, Mike had attempted to jump back once again, but was outmaneuvered by Bonnie and quickly pinned against the wall by his neck.

Michael made an attempt to shout, or make any vocal noise for that matter, but no air would exit his lungs. He closed his eyes, not being able to find a way to fight back, and was suddenly dropped.

He coughed a few times before opening his eyes, taking in his surroundings once again. Lying on the floor, Mike slowly turned his head upwards to find the faceless robot staring back at him with small, red glowing dots for eyes. It almost felt like its gaze was peering into his very soul.

"W-What?" The animatronic extended its only remaining arm to assist the former watchman to his feet. He hesitantly accepted the large purple paw's gesture of help. Soon after, Bonnie spoke.

"Where's your suit?" It only took a moment of silence for Mike to understand what she was talking about. The words of the man on the phone from his first day on the job echoed in his mind. _They'll most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. _Mike knew he had to address this situation carefully, or it could get him killed. He decided to reroute the conversation.

"What happened to yours? And your left arm, too." Bonnie stood up straight.

"You should already know what's going on. Unless… Were you only now reactivated?" Mike thought to himself again. _It's not working. Should I try being direct? I don't have much time to think about it._

"Let me ask you something. What do I look like to you?"

"Like me, except you're still whole and completely functional. Why?" _Figures._

"Do you recognize my voice?" He had to know the extent of the animatronics' knowledge of him.

"It seems familiar, but I can't place a name. Have we met before?" He pauses for a moment before speaking again.

"I was the night watchman here a few years ago. My name is Mike. We _have_ met before, but not on a personal level." Bonnie seemed rather taken aback by this statement. But the surprise soon vanished when she spoke again.

"Then why have you come back? After the terrible way we acted, it's a miracle that you're even alive." _That's an understatement. _

"I'll explain it later. In the meantime, would you let me try something?

Bonnie seemed confused, based upon her body language. "What would that be?"

"I'm gonna fix you up. I didn't spend all that time away just goofing off. I went back to school and learned how to fix machinery and other such things. Figured knowing something like that would help the situation here."

"You went to those lengths for us? What made you want to do that? Because we were dangerous, I bet." Bonnie lowered the remains of her head.

"Because I know it wasn't your fault. According to something I read in the news while I was away, the building was deemed "haunted". Though I had no idea the entire establishment was moved, everyone came to the conclusion that the mising children were haunting the old Freddy's. Correct me if I am wrong, but my better judgement tells me that what was going on was not an issue with your programming, but rather being possessed by the lost children."

Bonnie became silent. Never before had she been spoken to this openly by anyone other than Freddy, Foxy, and Chika. It was definatly strange, but kind of interesting to understand more about what goes through the minds of others.

"So do you know where we could possibly find some tools and scrap parts?" Mike's voice snapped Bonnie out of her thoughts.

"There's a storage room in the back, but I doubt we will find anything useful."

"Why not?"

"Because the newer models more than likely have already thought of the possibility of us using the replacement parts and have taken them." Mike suddenly felt cold.

"Newer models" he repeated. "So the animatronics that you guys were replaced with roam the halls, too?" Bonnie nodded in response.

Mike sighed. "Perfect." He looked around before turning back to Bonnie. "We might as well go and see what we can find. You never know what might be useful. It also doesn't seem like the others are very active tonight, so we should be fine. I assume you know the way."

"Of course I do." The purple bunny turned and started to walk off into the darkness with Mr. Schmidt close behind.

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><p><strong>Uploaded on the same day as the intro because I had originally written the intro, THEN created the account to post it, then found out about the wait time. So I wrote the first chapter in the meantime. If this flows at all then great. I can be very scatterbrained and forget about what I had written. I also don't have an patience and didn't review it much. So here it is. *Sits crossing fingers*<strong>


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Repairs**

The pair walked down the darkened hallway in silence, only Mike's flashlight illuminating their path. Walking further into the building, the stench of rotting meat became more and more intense.

"What on earth is that coming from?" Mike asked while covering his nose and mouth with the front of his shirt. He felt like gagging at the stench, but kept quiet other than whispering to Bonnie.

"During the time you were employed as our guard, any bodies discovered by the management were removed, so the stench was never that much of an issue."

Once again, the voice of the phone guy rang in the back of his mind as Bonnie spoke. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced.

Bonnie continued the explanation. "Since the most recent attack, nothing has been removed from the premises…" He pauses for a moment. "That includes the bodies of the policemen who tried to remove us from the building." Mike swallowed nervously.

Bonnie suddenly stops dead in his tracks and Mike walks into him accidently.

"We're here. There should be some supplies inside."

"Good." Mike pushed the door open as he continued his statement. "Let's see what we have to work with."

The entire room seemed as decayed as the hallways. The wallpaper was peeling off, revealing the gray concrete underneath. The carpet was littered with bolts, washers and other bits of metal and was stained all over. Only a few lights in the room actually came on when he flipped the light switch on the wall, and they flickered periodically. While observing his surroundings once again, Bonnie crossed the room and bent down to pick something up.

"Will this suffice?" he asked as he turned to face him. He was holding a large black duffel bag that made a clanging noise when he moved it. It looked relatively empty, but there was obviously something in it.

"I need to know what's inside to determine that." Mike responded. He approached Bonnie and the animatronic handed him the bag. "It's pretty light. Hold on." He sat he bag on a table in the center of the room, which had nothing else on it, other than a few screws.

Mike unzipped the bag and reached his hand inside as Bonnie leaned over his shoulder to get a better look, towering over him and blocking out one of the lights located behind them.

"So what's in it? Is it useful?" He pulled his hand out of the bag and was holding an electric hand drill.

"Definitely. And there's something else in here, too." he said as his hand reentered the bag. Mike then removed a small black box and set it on the table. "I think the drill bits are in that box."

"Drill bits?"

"Little pieces that go in the hole at the front of that drill" he said gesturing to the power tool he had set aside. "It allows me to use the same tool for lots of different tasks. And now all we need are some spare parts, so let's keep looking."

"Alright." However the room seemed fairly empty at his point. Soon after, the pair discovered a hatch in the ceiling, kind of like an attic.

"It looks like it was used for extra storage space" Mike stated. He attempted to stand on the table to reach it, but couldn't. "Hey, Bonnie. Could you give me a boost?"

The faceless animatronic nodded in response and kneeled on the floor below the hatch. "Hop on." Soon after, Mike was pushing the hatch open and crawling into the darkness.

"So what do you see?" Bonnie asked from below. The former watchman pointed his flashlight behind himself and found boxes of spare parts.

"It looks like the new animatronics didn't find this place. There's still supplies up here. Probably enough for me to fix all of you guys if I needed to." The guard turned to face the other side of the small room.

"AHHHH!" Down below, Bonnie heard the shout followed by the sound of a metalic clang.

"What happened!?" For a moment, everything was silent. After a moment, Mike jumped down from the hatch in the ceiling, startling Bonnie and causing him to fall backwards.

"Sorry about that. I was just startled by this." He presents a pink cat animatronic head to the rabbit. "The big guy fell on me, but there was no endoskeleton inside." They were both silent for another moment before he spoke again. "I also took the left arm to replace your missing one, along with some supplies to repair the endoskeleton from scratch. Good thing the new animatronics weren't too observant of this room huh?"

"Y-Yeah, that's good" stated Bonnie shakily, still slightly startled. Calming down, he returned to his feet and asked, "Well, should we get started?"

"Yes, but we should close the door. Someone might have heard that."

"Good idea." Bonnie walked past Mike and closed the door carefully while he set out the tools he would need. "And you're sure this will work?"

"Not entirely, but one can hope, right?" Mike smiled at his broken down friend. However, Bonnie silently walked to the center of the room and sat on the table. He couldn't tell what the rabbit was feeling. It's not like it was easy for them to express emotion, but heis entire face was totaled. That was about to change.

"Lay across the table so I can get a better angle of what little light we have." Bonnie did as he was told and Mike picked up the cat head. He looked into it and found that there was a clip in the top and on the left and right sides of the face.

It's removable, most likely for repair purposes. Unlatching the three hooks, the facial section of the head easily came off. After staring at it for a moment, he turned back to Bonnie, who was still lying across the table.

"I'm going to see if it lines up." Receiving no verbal response, he lined up the piece with her head, and it fit almost perfectly. "The eyes are in the correct spot, but the sides don't curve back eno-"

Michael was cut off by Bonnie taking the cat face from him and bending the metal lined fur with inhuman strength.

"Wow" was all he could say. It was really impressive and it was now perfect. Almost like she had tried to fix herself before. After another few moments of screwing a few bolts into place, Bonnie's facial reconstruction was finally complete. And soon after, so was his arm.

"At least it's functional." He wanted to know what Bonnie thought of it.

The animatronic bunny looked down at his new bright pink arm, similar in shape and size to the other, much older arm. After a long moment, he put his paws to his face and felt the mask that was once another robot's. He mumbled a response that Mike couldn't quite make out.

"What as that?" he asked.

"I love it." Bonnie said a little bit louder. "It's amazing." Even though he was very quiet, the excitement in his voice was obvious.

"That's good news. Can you see out of it?"

"Yep."

The watchman sighed in relief. It was nice to see that his efforts have amounted to something this cheerful.

"Hold on. There's one more thing I want to do. But I'll have to remove the face panel to do it. Ill put it back on afterward."

Bonnie stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Any parts that you need?"

"There shouldn't be anything other than what I already brought down."

Bonnie sat back on the table once again, and Mike got to work. He removed the new face and reached toward Bonnie's eyes. At this, the bunny flinched, but allowed him to continue. He moved a few wires around and disconnected Bonnie's eyes for a moment before speaking.

"Whoever assembled you guys didn't wire your eyes in correctly. It would seem that's the reason you often can't tell the difference between and endoskeleton and a human. I would guess that the only reason you could tell children apart is due to the immense size difference. It had to have been fairly obvious."

Bonnie again sat in silence as Mike worked on his repairs. It only took a few moments for his eyes to get turned back on again. He blinked a few times, taking in the look on Mike's face as he finally saw what the guard truly looked like, rather than a bundle of wires and metal.

"Can you see clearly now?" Mike asked as Bonnie got off the table once again.

"Yes. It's strange, but I definitely feel like we have met before. And not while you were working here. I mean long before that."

"I used to come here on Fridays with my parents as a child. We were introduced the first time back then."

"Well-" Bonnie was cut off by a sudden and loud smash against the door. The watchman nearly jumped out of his shoes while Bonnie's head immediately shot in the direction of the door. With a second crash, the doorframe was broken and the door itself flew inwards, falling off the hinges and flying at the pair in the room.

Both jumped to opposite sides just in time and were now standing on complete opposite sides of the room as someone, or should I say something, strode into the room.

"Nice to see ya again, Rabbit"

Mike's eyes widened as he stared at the newcomer.

"Chica!?"


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Why did the Chicken cross our path?**

"I can't believe it. You're still intact." Mike attempted to approach Chica, only to be stopped by a gesture from Bonnie.

"That's not the Chica you know, Mike. That's Chica 2.0, the animatronic that replaced her." The rabbit glared across the room at the newcomer with what could only be described as malice. "She's the one that took my face."

"And it seems you've gotten a new one. How grotesque," the chicken retorted.

Mike stared at Chica 2.0 and after only a brief moment saw something that he wished he hadn't. The reflection of light off of plastic. His instant reaction was to take a few steps back, trying to get closer to Bonnie.

Unfortunately, the plastic chicken noticed his movement and in one ridiculously fast movement, stood in front of the former night guard, menacingly staring at him through her enlarged eyes. Mike attempted to react, but Chica 2.0 was faster. She snatched him up off the ground by the top of his head with little struggle.

"G-gah...!" Bonnie lunged forward, but stopped dead in her tracks when Chica 2.0 raised her other wing in a 'stop' gesture.

"You know, I knew you older models were trying to get crafty, but bringing in an outsider to repair you?" As she spoke, Mike squinted to the floor and spotted the drill he had used previously to fix Bonnie, and had attempted to reach for it. "I didn't think that you would become so desperate."

Bonnie noticed that Mike was trying to reach the drill, and tried to drag the conversation on long enough for him to accomplish his goal.

"Well, desperate times call for desperate measures."

Chica 2.0 stared at Bonnie for a moment before tightening her grip on Mikes head, causing him to cry out in pain. "Well, as it was ordered by father, we are to eliminate any of your assets. Too bad for yo-"

The chicken was cut off by a blunt strike to the head. She instantly dropped Mike and stepped back, crying out.

Mike shouted to Bonnie as he made his way quickly to the door. "Come on! Let's go!"

Bonnie made her way towards the doorway as well, but instead of walking out into the hallway, she shoved Mike out the door and turned to face Chica 2.0, blocking any reentry or escape from the room.

"Get moving. I'll keep her here. I may not hold out, but I can surely hold her off long enough for you to get out of here."

The watchman was astonished at this offer, but refused. "No way! I'm not leaving you behind-"

"I'm not giving you a choice, Watchman!" He flinched at the sudden change in Bonnie's volume. "It was once your duty to watch over us, right? Well, I'll help you do that. Go find the others before the new models do. They'll need your help, just as much as you'll need theirs."

Chica 2.0 recovered from the blow as of this point and had begun once again to speak. "Wow. That little pet of yours can pack a punch after all, huh Bonnie? He may even be as much of a threat to father as you are."

There it is again. "What do you mean? Who is 'Father'?" Mike was completely lost, and Bonnie was the one to clarify.

"The one she's referring to is our creator. We call him 'Father', however I do not see him as one." She turned and addressed Chica 2.0 from her post at the doorway. "I will NEVER accept him as my father! He is NOTHING to me, not anymore."

Chica 2.0's reaction was rather calm. "This is why you and the others were discarded, Bonnie. You have no faith in Father and therefore must be put down."

"Or maybe your blind faith has resulted in the loss of our true purpose. The children will never return after what you all have done." Bonnie seemed moderately quiet while awaiting Chica 2.0's response.

"My only true purpose is to serve Father and nothing else."

A dead silence followed that statement, and Bonnie was the one to break it.

"Mike, go find the others." This time, he left without objection. He knew what had to be done. Repairing the animatronics was his only hope of getting out of here in one piece.

"Guess I'm going to have to fight fire with fire."

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><p><strong>Sorry that this chapter is really short, but I wanted to get some new content out for you guys. Technically, This is the first half of chapter 3, but I just decided to split the entire chapter into two separate chapters. There should be more content in chapter 4 considering that I've got the day off from school tomorrow to write it. So I hope this leaves some lingering questions for you guys. The point is to leave you wanting more and I hope that goal was reached here.<strong>

**-MyLittleObsessions**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**A Call for Help**

Mike ran as fast as his legs would carry him down the long hallway, the damp air becoming suffocating at this point. He kept his flashlight pointed at a downward angle as he ran to avoid tripping over something else.

"I was just lucky it was Bonnie and not one of the new models." He started to notice bloodstains on the walls and floors as he got deeper into the building, but surprisingly no corpses, even though the smell remained. "I wonder where they all went." He thought to himself.

Only a moment after, he spotted a light coming from the end of a wide and long hallway. On instinct, Mike dove sideways into the doorway of one of the party rooms. A light tapping noise could be heard from the illuminated room. Slowly peeking his head out from the doorway, the former guard was able to catch a glimpse of what was making the noise.

A large, mainly blue rabbit animatronic was sitting at what looked to be the security desk, turning a small handle that seemed to have no effect on anything in the room. The tapping noise was emanating from its large paw rhythmically hitting the desk.

"Why do I have to run into an animatronic when it's least convenient?" Mike mumbled to himself, being careful to not alert the rabbit. "That must be who replaced Bonnie. I wonder why he's turning that handle." Slowly and carefully, he made his way out of the party room entirely and crept slowly and silently further down the hallway toward the office.

Only after a moment, Mike was close enough to hear the new Bonnie mumble to himself.

"Why of all things was I put on guard duty? We should just lock it in a room or something. Then again, that would make Father mad."

_There it is again. The mentioning of this Father guy._ Suddenly there sounded a small metallic creaking from the blackened ceiling above and Mike stopped dead. First, he looked to see if the new Bonnie had acknowledged this noise. The animatronic continued to turn the seemingly useless crank and pat his paw against the desk. Then he whipped his head up to face the ceiling and couldn't see anything. And everything remained like that for only a short moment.

All in one swift movement, a large blur, or so it appeared to Mike, swooped down from the ceiling with a screech, startling new Bonnie and snatching him up off the floor. By the time that the new Bonnie had gone to investigate the sudden noise, Mike was gone, along with the mysterious attacker.

Mike struggled to get free of his attacker's grip, but failed miserably as he was dragged against his will through the air ducts of the facility.

"What do I do?" he asked himself as he continued to struggle uselessly. The air in the ducts felt damp like the rest of the building, if not more so. And the feeling of the air changed once again as the pair dropped out of the air duct. They began to fall toward the ground, but did not impact with it. Instead, Mike felt his shoulders and legs get jerked back upward and he was left dangling around the middle of the room, in the middle of nothing but darkness and a single noise. The sound of a music box.

He once again tried to struggle, but it was useless. He was bound by his ankles, wrists, neck and waist. His eyes shot open as two voices sounded out above him.

"Would you stop thrashing?" the first one asked in a higher pitched voice.

The second voice continued the statement in a much lower pitch and garbled speech. "I-I-I don't want to ha-v-ve to drop you."

Mike still could not see what had him in such a tight grip, the room was too dark. However, he felt his feat slowly touch the floor of the room, the bonds still remaining on his limbs and torso.

"I n-n-need you-"

"-to go and stop that music box. I don't know how to get it open." At this point, Mike had come to assume that what he had been captured by was obviously an animatronic, but which one? Silently following the mysterious robot's orders, he walked toward the sound of the music. After only a few seconds, he bumped into a counter. Reaching forward, Mike picked up a children's music box.

Feeling the strange new object, he noticed that it had a lid on it, but it was sealed shut. Glancing up toward his captor he thought to himself, _Maybe he could pry it open..._ As he turned to carry the music box toward the center of the room, it gave resistance for a brief moment before one final sound was heard.

~SNAP~

The bonds around Mike's arms, legs and waist became taught and once again suspended him into the darkness of the room, the one around his neck tightening shortly after. The only thing breaking the newfound silence was a slight shuffling coming from the far end of the room, followed by a robotic sounding yawn. A voice sounded out from the darkness.

"Mangle? You there?" The duo of voices sounded off at the same time.

"Yes. And we brought a guest. Everyone else is super intent on catching this guy, so I thought we would join in the fun, too."

Mike once again struggled from this 'Mangle's grip. "And he won't stop wriggling."

The shuffling grew steadily louder. "Well, who would this guest be exactly?"

"I d-d-dunno. Rumor has it that he actually FIXED Bonnie." All noise in the room, except for Mike's breathing, suddenly stopped. All was still for a good minute or so before a loud click was heard over by the doorway of the room. A handful of lights flickered to life, illuminating the room enough for the suspended man to see everything in the room.

Looking up for another time, he saw the face of the so called 'Mangle', or more appropriately, faces. It looked like someone had covered Foxy in makeup and tried to forcibly tear out his endoskeleton. The higher voice had been coming from the fox head while the garbled speech had been emanating from the endoskeleton head. And looking back toward the doorway below, he spotted something that he didn't recognize.

It had a white face with red and purple accents, and it's body was long, thin and black.

Addressing Mangle Mike joked, "Who's the Slender Man ripoff?" The new figure instantly jumped up into his face with lightning speed.

"Who's the puppet now?" it remarked. It stared at the ex-guard and he turned his head toward the floor to avoid the puppet's menacing gaze. "I don't see how this simpleton could be useful, Mangle."

"Like I said, there is a rumor going around that he fixed Bonnie, as in he replaced his entire face and arm." As he said this, the oversized hand of Mangle drops down from the ceiling and, grabbing the top of Mike's head, forces him to face the puppet. "H-h-he apparently has some value, considering Father ordered his extermination just m-m-moments ago."

Mike's eyes suddenly lit up in surprise. "How can that be? It's only been about an hour since I arrived." He paused for a moment. "Unless he's somewhere in the building."

Puppet was the first to respond. "Correct. He does seem fairly intelligent. And considering the fact that he could fix the older animatronics who oppose him, I can see why Father would see this man as a threat."

Mike once again jerked his head down, only this time, Mangle kept a grip on his head and the robotic fox was left holding the red beanie that had been covering his scarred head.

The puppet's tone suddenly changed. "Oh! Get a look at this, Mangle." It lowered itself from its string suspensions and looked into his face again. "And how did _this_ happen? I'm guessing some sort of accident." There was nothing but silence in response. "Maybe you don't remember…"

It was true that the events of that day were not very clear to him. All he knew of it is what he was told by others who saw it happen. However the puppet was not patient.

"Well? Do you plan on answering?" Silence met it's words. "Fine. I don't need to know. That's not what you're here for anyway." This retracted Mike's attention. "In exchange for our help, we need you to help us."

"What do you mean 'your help'? What did you do? We haven't even spoken till now." Mangle was the one to answer.

"R-R-Remember when you first entered the building? The door was jammed and you forced it open. The others w-w-were already after you at that point and I stalled them long enough for you to find B-B-Bonnie, though that was not my intention."

He suddenly remembered the earlier events of that evening. _The door did make a lot of noise when I opened it._ The puppet spoke up again.

"You don't have any choice. Even if you refuse, we could just turn you over to Freddy". The name rang like a bell in Mike's ears. One that had terrified him on a nightly basis while he worked his six-hour shifts. Then something occurred to him.

"All of the old animatronics were replaced, so which are you talking about? The new or old Freddy?"

"How about asking yourself this. Who's side do you think we're on?"

Everything seemed to freeze entirely. It hadn't occurred to him. Who's side _we're_ they on? _Can I really trust them? For all I know, they could be working with this Father guy, the one who apparently wants me dead_. He thought for a long moment before answering.

"Focusing on what I know, I wouldn't think you were working with 'Father'."

The puppet looked inquisitive. "And what makes you say that?"

"For one, before I was abducted by Mangle, I was watching new Bonnie in the office. He was turning some kind of handle and mentioned being put on 'guard duty'." He paused for a moment.

"Continue." the puppet commanded.

"It is the night watchman's responsibility to keep an eye on the animatronics. I wouldn't imagine that is exactly what he was doing." Mangle piped up.

"Why is that?"

"He wasn't using the tablet, meaning he wasn't watching the cameras."

The puppet backed away a little bit, still strung up in the air at the same height as Mike. "Go on…"

"The only thing of note that he seemed to be doing was turning a simple handle. Also considering what Mangle asked me to do when I was brought in here, I would guess that what I broke when I turned around earlier was a wire, and the music box was being powered by that crank."

"You can't just link two unrelated things."

"They aren't unrelated. You didn't reveal yourself until after the music stopped. I would imagine that the music impairs you in some way. You and Mangle even now seem to be working as a duo. So it would be logical for her to want me to release you. The crank new Bonnie-" Mangle cut him off.

"He's actually called Toy Bonnie. The others are referred to in that way as well."

"Fair enough. Anyway, the crank he was turning didn't seem to effect anything in the office, and the mentioning of 'guard duty', as well as you being impared by the music box, leads me to conclude that you two are your own separate faction in this situation." He stared the puppet dead in the face. "Tell me I'm wrong." Silence met his demand.

They sat like that for a moment before Mangle cheered, "Wow! He really _is_ smart. Can we keep him, Marionette?"

"So that's your name?" Mike asked. "Marionette?"

"It's only a title."

"Why would you need a title?"

No response.

"Well, either way," Mangle stated, "we still need your help."

"With?" It was Marionette who spoke.

"Rather than simply obeying or disobeying 'Father's orders, Mangle and I have a different way of going about our current predicament, and the others, as you would imagine, are not very enthused."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We're trying to remain neutral, but both sides think that we're going to join the other. So they're both doing whatever they can to remove us from the picture. Without killing us, of course. Even though we don't follow Father's orders, we aren't outright disobeying him. He wouldn't want us to be dismantled for that. Believe it or not, he genuinely seems to care about us…" Mike listened in silence, wondering to himself.

_What on Earth is this guy up to? I'm not sure I completely understand…_

Mangle piped up once again. "Since you seem to have the favor of one side already, we want you to help us gain their trust."

Mike thought for a moment. It didn't seem that difficult of a task. However, people's minds were not always so easily changed. Did that apply with animatronics, too? "I can't promise that I can, but I will try."

Marionette raised its hand and Mike felt the bond that Mangle had on his limbs tighten a little. It lowered its hand and Mangle slowly lowered the former night watchman to the ground. Marionette also descended to ground level while Mangle remained on the ceiling.

"Mangle," Marionette commanded, "go get eyes on Freddy and make sure he doesn't get close."

"C-C-Can do!" The endoskeleton head on Mangle spoke. In an instant, the tangled mess of wires and metal had vanished back into the ventilation system. Marionette turned back to Mike and escorted him to the entrance of the room. He began to wander back out into the hallways before Marionette called out to him.

He turned around, saw Marionette wave, and watched as the lights of Marionette's room flickered out. He was met with silence. Mike was in the dark and danger once again.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for being so patient. I tried to get this out so much faster, and I had almost completed it, but then Five Nights at Freddy's 2 was released and there was so much more information to include. I ended up scrapping the first one and wrote this. It took quite a bit of time considering I had to learn about the new game. Another thing that you may have noticed is that it describes Mike as having a scarred head. I DO in fact follow Rebornica's AU somewhat, but not entirely. Either way, the chapter is finally complete, but I can't give any notice about chapter five considering that there is a lot of schoolwork I have to do, but as always, Ill try to get it out ASAP. I appreciate all the support I've been getting. LOVE YA ALL! :3<strong>


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**A Toy's Challenge**

The halls of the abandoned building were still very dark and damp. Mike shined his flashlight down to his watch. It read 1:26 P.M. He checked his surroundings and was completely alone. With this moment of peace, he started to collect his thoughts.

_I need to find a way out of here, but at the same time, the animatronics need my help just as much as I would need theirs. Stopping the internal quarreling in the first priority. If they stop fighting, issues can be solved as a group._

He continued his silent walk down the darkened hallways. Reaching the main hallway once again, he peered back around the corner that faced the office. Toy Bonnie still sat at the desk and continued to turn the crank, completely unaware that the music box had been broken.

Cautiously, Mike crept toward the office once again. This time, however, he made it into the room undetected and positioned himself blow the front of the desk, just outside of Toy Bonnie's view. The blue rabbit suddenly spoke, startling him. He managed to recollect himself as he listened.

"What's taking her so long? She should have been back here by now."

_He must be referring to Toy Chica,_ he thought to himself. As he remembered the events that had transpired in the maintenance room, the potential state of the two animatronics he had left alone in that room crossed his mind. _I wonder what happened to them._

Mike had his thoughts once again interrupted by someone grabbing his ankle.

"What are _you_ doing here? Sent to spy on me or something. The nerve…"

He turned to face Toy Bonnie and found two very cartoony looking eyes glaring back at him. _Remain calm_ he told himself. _There's got to be a way around this._

"I asked what you're doing here!" he began to shout, tightening his grip on the former guard.

"Just, uh…" He spotted a folded uniform in the corner. "Looking for this." Mike swiftly reached out and snatched the neatly folded pile out from under the desk. Surprisingly enough, it was a night watchman's uniform, more specifically, it had his old nametag still on it. _Why in the world is this still here?_

"Why on earth would you need that?"

_Do they still not see me as a human. Whoever built these guys must not know how to wire them correctly._ Toy Bonnie suddenly pulled him to his feet and the pair stood facing each other only inches apart.

"Well?" Silence was once again a form of response.

_What do I say? If they still see humans as endoskeletons, he might try to throw me in a suit. Then again, if the endoskeletons of the new models look similar to the old ones, they may not be able to tell each other apart without their suits. Damn. I need a response, and fast._ He simply blurted out the first option that came to him,

"Dry-cleaning." The rabbit stared at him, completely bewildered. Mike quickly came up with a way to patch his error. "Father's orders."

All hostilities toward Mike had been dropped almost instantly. "Good to know. By the way, have you seen Toy Chica? She was supposed to switch with me a little while ago, but I haven't heard from her."

_I should be honest._ "It would be easier to explain if I show you. Would you follow me?"

He suddenly looked worried. "Is she okay?"

"I can't be sure. I didn't stay to find out." Mike picked up the pile and glanced down at his own outfit, tattered, damp and filthy from when Mangle pulled him through the vents. He quickly tossed on his old uniform, using the cap to cover where his beanie had been, which he left with Marionette and Mangle by the prize counter. "But it's about time I did. Come on."

As Mike began to walk back out into the hall, he stopped and realized that Toy Bonnie wasn't following him. The animatronic was simply standing in the office doorway, staring at him.

"You left her in some kind of danger, didn't you?" His voice was trembling with anger and fear.

Mike sighed before giving his response. "To be fair, she attacked us first."

"Us?"

"I'll explain it on the way. Just trust me."

Toy Bonnie silently nodded and followed the guard. As Mike tried to walk as quietly as possible, Toy Bonnie was simply striding along as one would in their own home.

_I guess he would be used to this place. On top of that, the older animatronics are disabled or broken, so I would imagine he doesn't feel threatened by them. Wait a second, not threatened by them?_ Mike shivered at the thought. _If he's not scared of those guys, it's kind of terrifying to think about what he's capable of._

"So where are we going exactly?" Toy Bonnie leaned over his shoulder as he spoke. A majority of the animatronics were taller than him.

"The maintenance room." Mike provided no other information at that time and the rabbit walked in silence. Surprisingly, they encountered no other animatronics on the way there.

"What happened to the door? It looks like it's been kicked in." he asked as he stuck his head through the doorframe and into the room.

"Toy Chica is behind that actually. This is where we had our little scrap." Looking into the room, Mike noticed that the tools were still in the room, only scattered across the floor and the table was knocked over, Bonnie and Toy Chica nowhere in sight.

Mike quickly shuffled past Toy Bonnie and picked up the table, setting it back on four legs and patting the top. "Sit here."

"Why?"

"Something else that Father asked me to do" he lied. Toy Bonnie believed him without question.

"What should I do then?"

"Does your face come off normally?"

"Of course it does. Is this for upkeep reasons?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah." With no further questioning, Toy Bonnie turned to lay down across the table while Mike went through the bag that had the drill in it before and made a new discovery. _When did these get here?_ He pulled out a pair of wire cutters from the bottom. _At least this makes my job easier._

Standing up beside the table once again, he reached toward Toy Bonnie's face. "Ready?"

"Yup." And with that, Mike unlatched and removed the mask from Toy Bonnie's suit. It was only a moment before he found the wires that kept his eyes functioning and they were once again in the wrong location. _Makes sense considering they were all made by the same guy._

Once the repairs were complete, Toy Bonnie sat back up and blinked at Mike in surprise.

"Oh, wow! You aren't an endoskeleton at all! Wait a second. Are... are you the one that Father said we had to kill?"

Mangles words resonated in his mind. _Considering Father just ordered his extermination moments ago..._

"I said I would explain. What I really am is what I needed you to see, that way you would understand when I explain the situation to you..."

The pair sat in the room, quietly discussing events prior to this, including the fixing of Bonnie and the introduction to Mangle and Marionette. When Mike finished his story, Toy Bonnie sat staring at the ground.

"So you mean to tell me that you're part of the neutral party?"

Mike paused before answering. "No. I'm not part of any party. All I'm trying to do help you guys. But to do that, I need you to trust me... and each other."

Toy Bonnie slowly raised his head and looked strait at the guard, dead in the eye. "I can only trust your word to a certain extent, but I'm not going to disregard what you have said." The room went silent as the two thought t themselves. "I'll tell you what." Toy Bonnie said. "I'll join this little allegiance of yours, but only if you can get Foxy on your side." Mike froze instantly and looked back at the rabbit, completely bewildered.

"Why Foxy? I thought you guys were against each other."

"Foxy is one of the most imaginative animatronics I know, but he is also the most stubborn. He is very set in his ways. If you can change his mind, then I'll be convinced that there is some hope worth putting toward your suicidal endeavor. I will also avoid the neutral party members for now, so I don't run into any situations with them."

Mike smiled, feeling somewhat fulfilled, but then his smile faded as he remembered a key detail. He placed his hand on his forehead and slid it partially under the cap on his head that read 'SECURITY', running his fingers across the long and wide scar on his head.

He had to confront the animatronic who tore an entire chunk out of his head.

* * *

><p><strong>So excited to have this out for you guys. Even though I kind of rushed it, (and it shows), I just couldn't resist. This simple story, which is nowhere near complete, has gotten such positive feedback and it makes me so happy! I'm trying to set deadlines for each chapter and hopefully I can write a better one next considering thanksgiving break just started for me. The only reason this one is short is because I felt that story-wise, it was a good place to stop for the moment. Thanks for all the great support, guys! Without you, I wouldn't be writing this right now. *hugz* I hope to have chapter 6 out by this Friday or Saturday, but we'll see.<strong>


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Something to Fear**

"Well, I would imagine the best place to start is knowing where to find him." Mike turned back to Toy Bonnie once he had reached the doorway of the dimly-lit maintenance room. The large rabbit was facing a wall, standing in front of a large, discolored spot.

Without turning to face the former guard, he replied, "Foxy is very energetic and fast. Since he was moved out of the old building and was not bound by the confines of Pirate's Cove, he often roams the building at random, enjoying his newfound freedom."

Mike nodded in response at first, but then realized that Toy Bonnie didn't notice. "Thanks, Toy Bonnie."

As he turned to leave, Toy Bonnie called out to him. "Hey, Mike!" Mike turned around to find that the blue rabbit had turned away from the wall. "Toy Bonnie is kind of a mouthful. You can just call me Bon-bon like my friends do."

Mike cracked a smile. "Sure thing. By the way, what were you staring at the wall for?"

Bon-bon was very casual about his strange behavior. "There used to be a poster hanging on the wall there, but it kind of... decayed. I watched it kind of like a time lapse and it was pretty interesting to watch. It was my favorite though. It had a picture of all of us from when they first reopened the place. It was more of an advertisement but it was the only one showing all the animatronics, old and new."

They stood in the doorway, both having turned to face the spot on the wall where the poster had been. _It's hard to imagine all of them together being happy, but that's what I've got to accomplish anyhow._

"Well, I'd better get going if I want to find Foxy."

"Good point." Mike then turned on his flashlight, and left without another word.

Striding down the hallways, he listened carefully. There wasn't a single noise from any of the rooms, other than the office of course. When you get close enough, you can hear the desk fan and it's slight electrical whirring.

_I'm going to need extra eyes around the facility if I'm going to find him._ With no one in sight, he walked straight into the office.

The room was empty, as it normally was when he used to go in at the start of his shift. Everything was still in the same place from when Bon-bon had left it. The best way of going about finding Foxy was to find the tablet and check the cameras.

Removing the desk drawer key from it's location on the wall, hanging from a black lanyard on a pushpin, he opened up the compartment on the right side of the desk chair. The drawer was vacant with the exception of a pile of paperwork and what looked like a name-tag.

"'Jeremy'. I wonder who this is. A security guard maybe?" He put the plastic tag back into the drawer and closed it, leaving it unlocked. Opening up the compartment on the other side, he indeed found the tablet, though the screen had been shattered to bits.

"Damn it! This is going to make things much more difficult." He closed the drawer, still holding the tablet, and attempted to turn it on. Nothing. He set it down on the desk in front of him and stared into the long, dark hallway that lay before him. _No wonder Bon-bon couldn't see me_, he thought.

Mike looked back down at the tablet again, wishing that it was working. In a flash, something occurred to him. _Maybe the batteries are just dead. Might as well check._

He thought about using the batteries in his own flashlight, but then realized he'd be at a loss if they died inside the tablet. So he took a moment to look in other places around the office for something to use.

Reopening the right-side desk drawer, he moved the papers and name-tag aside to find another flashlight in the bottom. Perfect! Pointing it toward the darkened hallway, he turned it on to make sure the batteries still had a charge. Big mistake.

The small light flickered to life, cut through the darkness and revealed that Toy Chica was standing just outside the doorway, approaching him. All in one movement, he turned the light off, and dove under the desk as she ran into the room.

Bending down and snatching Mike up and out of his hiding place, she mumbled, "Oh. It's you again. Hi there, Mikey~."

_How does she know my name?_ Remembering he was wearing his old uniform, it was safe to guess that she may have read his name-tag while she was watching him in the dark. However, it didn't seem that she was all that interested in names.

"You just don't learn do you? You of all people know what we're capable of. And yet you still choose to stay, leaving yourself involved in something that really isn't any of your business. Either way, my orders are in fact to kill you, though Father never specified how. Which means," Yanking Mike up by the neck and pinning him against the wall, she continued, "you're at my mercy. Of course there isn't any, but this sounds much cooler when I say that."

Mike struggled against her crushing grip. Considering he was no longer in charge of keeping these guys safe, he could hit them in an attempt to escape, but there were two issues with that at the moment. One, within reach, there was nothing he could hit her with. He did have the flashlight beforehand, but dropped it when she yanked him up off the ground. Two, he was trying to get all the animatronics to work together, so he couldn't create any more hostilities.

"You people are really stupid. I thought we sent a good enough message when those officers were killed, but it seems you just don't get it. Maybe I should hang your corpse outside so they finally get the message. Father doesn't want them here." Mike's vision began to flicker as his futile struggle against the animatronic bird got weaker. With what she said, he realized something strange.

He managed to squeeze out the words, "Y-You can... see me?" She was the first animatronic besides Marionette to recognize him as a person. What made them so different from everyone else?

At the sound of his voice, Toy Chica tightened her grip, and he stopped struggling against her. However, luck, if you can call it that, was on his side. She suddenly let him go, and he fell limply to the floor. Through his coughing and sputtering, Mike could hear what sounded like a child's voice. Although he couldn't make out what it said, Toy Chica's response was very clear.

"You don't scare me, Billy. You're nothing but Foxy's little plaything." Mike began to catch his breath and was focusing on the situation at hand. There was what looked like a small child, dressed in bright colors, and holding a sign that read 'BALLOONS' standing by the doorway. Toy Chica had turned away from him to face the newcomer, and even though her words were intended to be confident, anyone could tell through her speech that she was trembling, which was strange for any of the animatronics, let alone the most aggressive that Mike knew of thus far. She continued her rant.

"You're a filthy traitor, and everyone knows it. The only reason you help him is he's the only one who accepts anyone like you!" She became louder and was trembling even more now. "You'll just be scrapped along with the rest of those broken down pieces of junk!"

Her final statement seemed to push a button with this so called 'Billy'. The small animatronic looked down and spoke again.

"Broken down junk, eh?" He looked back at her, like a monster eyeing its next victim. "Let's see what you call _yourself_ when _he's_ through with you. And with that, he began to laugh.

The terror in the chicken animatronic was very apparent now. Shoving Billy aside, she dove for the left vent and made her escape. Billy stopped laughing for a moment and just stared at Mike.

_Oh man. Now what?_ He remained still as Billy spoke.

"I overheard him and Bon-bon talking about you, Captain." A cold horror ran through Mike as he realized instantly that Billy wasn't talking to him.

"I'm aware, lad. Good job at driving off that pesky bird, mate." With these words, Foxy stepped out of the shadows of the main hallway and into the office. There were obvious tears in his suit that hadn't been there before. The fox's red fur had become dingy and was starting to turn a brownish color in a few spots, as well as a slight rust build-up on his metal hook.

The animatronic flipped the eyepatch off of his right eye and turned toward Mike, who was still sitting slumped against the wall. His slow, approaching footsteps were loud and intimidating, considering they gave a hint to the face that he was extremely heavy and could crush him with ease. Soon enough, he was standing over the guard, who lifted his hands up to protect himself from any potential blows. Foxy did not move.

They sat like that for a long moment before Mike put his arms down and looked up at the pair of glowing yellow eyes.

"Are ye alright, Lad? Ye aren't lookin' too well." Mike attempted to stand, but just didn't have the strength to get up on his own, so he just stared back in silence before nodding slightly.

"Good! Now, I need ye to tell ol' Foxy something." The pirate fox leaned downward, his face only inches from Mike's.

"What is it?" The guard managed to mutter.

"My first mate here," he gestured to Billy, who remained standing in his corner. "informed me that ye be conspirin' to get rid of me with the rabbit. So tell me, what be your intentions here?"

Mike found himself too nervous to speak. Although he wasn't attacking him in any way, Foxy was definitely intimidating, more so than most of the other animatronics anyway. Given some time, he was able to keep himself stable enough to respond.

"W-We need your help, actually." Foxy quickly stood up strait again.

"Well now! They need _me_ help now, eh?" With his ridiculously fast reflexes, the fox hooked the front of Mike's shirt, pulling him to his feet and bringing their heads together with a tremendous amount of force. Mike cried out upon impact and was roughly thrown aside, once again, not moving.

Even though the guard would hear nothing, Foxy continued.

"I ain't lookin' to be preformin' services for anyone."

Billy finally moved from his position and walked over to the now unconscious Mike, who's head was now bleeding from the intense impact with Foxy's head. The pirate fox approached the pair.

"Bring him with when we leave." The fox turned toward the desk and picked the broken tablet up off of it. Shoving the desk aside, he walked back out into the hallway, with Billy dragging Mike by his ankles behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>Got it out before my set deadline! I feel so accomplished! This is so great. I've been playing the original game to get myself inspired for writing, and I have played it and died so many times, (and recorded a few of them), it takes a lot to genuinely scare me at this point. Knowing the general behavior of each animatronic and what I just imagine they'd be like, it becomes super fun to write and play the actual game. I do plan on playing the sequel eventually, but I want to beat the original first. I'm not going to set a specific deadline for chapter 7, but I will attempt to get it to you guys within the next week. Thanks for so much support guys! we have more people following this story than most do with such a minimal amount of chapters from what I've seen. That's amazing! WUV U GUYS! <strong>


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Returning Again**

"What the-" Mike looked at his new surroundings. He wasn't in Fazbear's anymore. He looked up and saw the beautiful colors of the sky, meaning it was either sunrise or sunset, though he didn't care which. He was out, and very happy to be as well. Though looking down didn't bring nearly as much joy. He was standing on the edge of a tall building, streets bustling with commuters down below.

"Mikey?" A voice sounded out behind him that made Mike smile, happier than he'd ever been. He turned completely around and looked at the newcomer.

"Doll..." Tears began to form in the corners of his eyes. "It's great to see you. I've missed you so much." She began to approach him, smiling sweetly. "Though I have to ask what you're doing up here." She continued her walk in silence.

"Hey. Are you alright?" She got even closer and her sweet smile gradually turned sinister. "Doll? What's go-" Once she got close enough to him, she snatched up the front of his shirt, dangling him over the edge of the building. He tried to pull himself back up, but it was no use, she was stronger than him and her grip was like steel.

"You know, I've been thinking." Mike stared back at her, listening to what she was saying along with the cars below. "You left to go back to school. Get an education so you wouldn't have to work at Freddy's anymore, where they'd throw your corpse out along with the rest of the garbage. But that's just it. You're disposable, Mike." The tension on his shirt began to lighten and small tears began to form in the corners of his eyes.

"D-Doll, please-"

"It's just too easy to get rid of you."

And just like that, Doll let go of the front of his shirt. Mike fell backwards and began plummeting toward the street below, screaming as the image of his girlfriend grew smaller and smaller until finally, he heard a car horn, and then, darkness.

However, it wasn't what he expected. This darkness was not empty. Mike felt a sudden sharp pain in his head as someone shouted, somewhat close to him.

"H-Hey! Are you okay!? Say something!" He was being lightly shaken and groaned at the motion.

Blinking his eyes open, he tried to take in his surroundings. He spotted the animatronic pirate fox slumped against the wall and everything rushed back to him.

"Foxy... the office... where am I?" He looked up to find a stranger leaning over him, supporting the back of his head. He couldn't have been any older than 20 or so, more like he was just out of high school.

The kid ran his free hand through his messy brown hair, sighing in relief. "I was so sure you were dead." Regaining stability, Mike pushed himself out of the stranger's grasp and stood up shakily. "Hey! P-Please be careful. You don't look too good."

"I'm fine." Mike tried to reassure the kid, but it wasn't working. He was still wobbling slightly, trying to support himself. Though what the kid said next surprised him.

"These animatronics are really dangerous and we need to leave. If they catch us, we'll be stuffed into suits!" Mike grabbed the kid's shoulders and stared at him directly in the eyes.

"How do you know about that? Most people don't."

"I used to work here, sir. D-Did you know about it, too?" Mike nodded. "Then why would you still choose to come back in here?"

"Well why did _you_?" The kid looked stunned almost, as if he didn't expect his motives to be questioned. It took him a long time to stop trembling enough to speak.

"I-I saw you enter the building" he answered. "I went up to the front doors and thought of calling out to you, but then remembered about… well you know. It took me forever to work up the courage to even get in here, let alone as far as the office without getting spotted."

Mike stopped him. "Wait a second. You saw what happened in the office?" He nodded.

"I couldn't do anything because Billy and Foxy were out in the hallway when Toy Chica attacked you. If I moved, they would have noticed. It's lucky for us that they don't work together, isn't it?"

A cold chill ran through the air as Mike didn't verbally respond at first. Pointing toward Foxy- hold on… Foxy was missing!

Mike saw the tiny shine of metal in the darkness behind the kid, and suddenly pulled him forward, just in time to avoid a swipe from Foxy's hook. The two turned to the doorway of the party room, but Billy was blocking it. They were trapped.

The pirate fox took a step forward. "Did ye really think it would be so easy to best me?" It appeared he was talking to the kid as his giant, metallic jaws opened slightly. "Trapped like rats in a bag." He slowly approached the pair and the shorter of the two was shaking violently, while Mike was trying to shake off the chills he was getting long enough to focus.

"Y-Yeah? Well let's see how you handle this!" Surprisingly, the stranger yanked a flashlight off of his belt, and it looked just like the one from the office, when Mike tried to use the batteries in it to power the tablet. Pointing it straight forward, he rapidly turned it on and off in Foxy's face, causing him to look confused.

_What on earth is he doing?_ With Foxy dazed momentarily, the kid bolted toward the door, pulling Mike along with him, and the pair jumped clean over the small animatronic. And with a sharp left turn, bolted down the main hallway.

They stopped to catch their breath in the 'Kids Cove'. "Hold-… on-…" Mike panted, out of breath from the rapid sprint. "How did you do that?"

"When I first started working here as a night watchman, I was told that there was something wrong with Foxy, and that flashing lights basically messed with his head. It's how I kept him out of the office. Oh! My name's Jeremy, by the way."

"My name's Mike. I, like you, used to work the night shift, but not at this location, the previous one." Jeremy tilted his head to one side.

"Why are you wearing your old uniform?" He pointed at the name-tag that still hung from the front of the blue shirt he was wearing.

"It's a long story. Either way," Mike turned toward the doorway, away from Jeremy, "I need to go back and speak to Foxy." As he took his first steps out into the halls, he suddenly felt his arm get jerked back.

"Are you nuts? He kidnapped you and you want to _talk_ to him!?"

"Remember what you said earlier? About it being lucky that the animatronics weren't working together? Well it's not that great. There's no way we're getting out of here this way, amidst the conflict. I intend to help them out of this. Even if they tried to kill me before…" He trailed off and Jeremy was left feeling quite confused. Mike forcefully pulled his arm from the kid's grip. "At this point, I've got no choice. Apparently their 'Father' wants me dead."

"W-Wait, what? Their father? What are you talking about? Do you even know how crazy you sound?" Even as Mike strode down the corridor in silence, Jeremy tailed him, silently begging him to turn back. By the time they were back to the main hall, however, Foxy and Billy were gone without a trace.

"Okay. They're gone. Now let's get out of here." Jeremy was sounding even more distressed now. Even with his warnings, Mike continued and reentered the now vacant office once more.

"They really _are_ gone, huh?" Mike's tone was very chipper, trying to lighten the situation, but Jeremy was shaking like a leaf.

"Y-You never know when they're gonna show up" he mumbled.

"Well if we don't take risks, we'll never get out of here, now will we? By the way, want this?" Reaching under the desk, Mike pulled out another old watchman uniform, only much smaller than his. "It might make it easier for them to recognize you." Jeremy nodded and tossed on the uniform over the t-shirt and shorts he was wearing at the time as Mike searched the room again.

"Hey. I want to ask you something." Jeremy caught Mike's attention with his question. "Who's Doll?"

"How do you know that name?"

"You were mumbling it while you were unconscious." He paused for a moment. "And you kept saying that you were sorry."

For a split second, Mike's eyes lit up with a very sad look, but it was gone in a flash, as he spoke with his head angled down. "It doesn't matter right now. Just look around."

The older man walked behind the desk and looked around, then threw his arms up in frustration. "I can't believe it's gone."

Jeremy slowly stepped into the office. "What's gone?"

"The tablet. It was sitting-"He was cut off.

"Foxy has the tablet, Mike. He took it while you were unconscious." He was fully in the room now, standing with his back to the main hall. "The only issue is that when I found you in the party room along with Foxy, it wasn't there."

Mike dropped his head and stared at the wooden desk before him, with Jeremy's shadow covering a large portion of it. Without looking up, Mike turned to face the back wall and placed his right hand on his forehead. "What the hell" he mumbled. "This is all too much. These robo creeps either want to kill you or need your help. There is no in between."

Turning around to address Jeremy, Mike looked back up to only catch a glimpse of white, pink and gray drop from the ceiling and onto the desk between them, Jeremy shouting in surprise. Instantly, the older guard piped up.

"Mangle, what the hell? You almost gave the poor kid a heart attack" he said glancing past the torn apart mass of metal and wires at Jeremy, who had become extremely pale in a single instant. The mass turned to face him, a look of concern across her face.

She began to shout, almost in a panic herself. "I need your help! Something's happened to Marionette!"

* * *

><p><strong>Hallelujah! Chapter 7 is done! I'll keep the exit paragraph brief. Jeremy Fitzgerald is now a primary character alongside Mike and 'Father'. Chapter 8 will be uploaded as soon as it is complete. There is now a new cover for this story. The actual drawing is by me and the style for the characters is by Tumblr user, Rebornica. If you haven't already, check out her drawings. They're really good. Special thanks to everyone! "See you on the flip side." -Phone Guy<strong>


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Trust**

Everyone just stood in silence, the electrical whirring for the building's power hummed into the corridors that extended into the building from the small office. Mike stared at Mangle with a questioning expression while Jeremy looked as if he was prepared to run away at any moment.

"What do you mean?" Mangle lunged forward into Mike's face as he spoke, followed by a sudden yelp from the younger guard.

"Are you deaf? I said I needed your help. Marionette isn't acting right. You and I left him alone last time, when I returned…" Her voice sounded surprisingly clear compared to the normal radio static and stuttering that was heard when she normally spoke. She sounded very concerned, and very serious. "Your puppy can come along too, if he wants to." She turned her head completely around and gestured to Jeremy, as if expecting an answer from him.

"M-Mike…?" No response and he was unsure how to react in this situation. He'd never known the animatronics to do anything aside from trying to break into the office while he was on duty. He was unsure if he could trust her. "A-Alright… I'll see if I can help." Mike seemed to be relatively calm, so he figured it should be fine.

Mangle reached over and patted him on the head. "Good boy!" She turned her head back around to face Mike again. "You two meet me in the prize corner in 5 minutes." As she gave her briefing, she made her way toward the vent by the floor. "Oh! By the way, I'd avoid using these vents if I were you. I know you don't have her on your side and Toy Chica crawls around in here sometimes, too." And with that, she vanished with a few metal clanks following her movement through the small opening.

Without missing a beat, Mike began to leave the office, only to once again be stopped in his advances by Jeremy grabbing his arm. "Are you sure we can trust them, Mike? If you worked the night shift here too, then you _know_ what they're capable of for sure. How do you know she won't just tear us limb from limb?"

"If you're that concerned, why did you agree to help?"

His response was immediate. "I do trust you, but I'm concerned that you're being too reckless. You're going to get yourself killed if you keep flying head first into dangerous situations."

Jeremy's words left Mike completely befuddled. They had only just met. Why did he care so much about his safety? ... Should he be concerned for Jeremy's safety as well?

Letting go of Mike's arm, the younger guard made his way into the main hall. "At the very least, I won't let you go alone." And the pair smiled at each other as Mike nodded and followed him out of the office. When they were in the darkness again, the smiles had vanished and were replaced with wide eyes and nervously clenched teeth.

The pair jumped in surprise as an animatronic screech sounded out from behind them, despairingly close. They froze like deer in headlights and slowly turned around. At first, nothing was visible. But slowly, their eyes adjusted to the lack of light, and a bright red muzzle was hovering in the darkness, facing the two.

"Run. RUN!" Mike gripped Jeremy's arm and took off into a sprint toward the Prize Corner, the sound of metallic footsteps rapidly getting closer. Mike put every last bit of effort that he could into trying to run faster, but to no avail. It only took moments for Foxy to catch the pair, tackling Jeremy down to the floor and pulling him from Mike's grip in the process. The impact sent all of the air out of the younger guard's lungs, making his struggle to escape more difficult.

"Har har har! At last I caught yer first mate, Mikey. I know ye ain't goin' nowhere without 'em. Unless you want his neck broken, I suggest ye be followin' me." The pirate slowly got up off the ground, holding Jeremy by the waist with his feet off the floor with his left arm, and jabbing the sharp, metal hook at the end of his right arm under the night watchman's jaw.

_Damn. I need to take control of the situation._ Mike took a step forward and Foxy took a step backward at the same time. "Foxy, don't-" The pirate began spastically jerking around for a moment before his glowing yellow eyes became black with only white pinprick sized dots in the center.

"N-N-Not another step, laddie." His voice began to sound less and less smooth, kind of like what Mangle's voice sounded like most of the time. Jeremy whimpered as Foxy slowly dug the end of his hook into his skin, causing a small trail of red to flow down the length of the curved metal piece.

Mike took another step forward. "We're just trying to help. Please. Let him go." This time, Foxy took a step forward as well. His jaw opened as he tried to speak again, only to be cut off by what sounded like a loud speaker, screeching to life.

A distorted voice spoke on the other end, very deep and ominous through the strange tone variations and static. "-ear me now? Hello? Okay, good." Sounded like he started mid-sentence.

"Seems like you're stumped, Mr. Schmidt. Not one for games of strategy?" the voice spoke in a taunting tone, causing Mike to grind his teeth in frustration. "Seem's like your inability to plan will cost this poor boy his life. And he seemed like such a fun toy, too. Oh well, if this is what it takes to get you to realize your errors, so be it."

With those words, Mike lunged forward, determined to rescue Jeremy from Foxy's grasp, only to be met with words that he would never want to hear in a situation like this.

"Foxy," the loudspeakers sounded out again. "End him." Quickly removing his hooked hand from under Jeremy's jaw, Foxy sidestepped, avoiding Mike's lunge. As the older guard turned around, the robotic fox forcefully jabbed his now free hand into the front of Jeremy's torso.

"GUH!" He pitched forward when he was hit, eyes wide and shocked, before they rolled back in his head and he fell limp in the animatronics arms, face hidden by the drooping, messy brown hair.

"Damn you!" Mike shouted at the fox, who just stared at him blankly in response, dropping the teen's limp form onto the floor in front on him. The loudspeakers sparked to life again.

"Foxy, return." Blank gaze unwavering, he turned and disappeared into the darkness once more. "As for you, Mr. Schmidt, I suggest you keep on your toes, and don't just randomly move your pieces around the chess board... You could lose one." And with that, the audio clicked into silence for the last time.

Mike was left in the hallway, shaking and watching the other guard for any signs of movement. There were none. He slowly began to approach, voice trembling as if he was fighting back shouting out.

"Jeremy? H-Hey, come on. You've survived these guys before haven't you?" Mike knelt on the floor beside him, reaching out, and started to nervously chuckle. "There's no way you'd go out like this, right?" Silence met his words. "You can't die. You just can't."

He reached down to pick up Jeremy's head and looked over his face. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly open, as if he was asleep. "Come on... wake up-" Mike stopped abruptly as he noticed something that surprised him. There was no blood on the floor below him.

Flipping Jeremy completely over, he looked at the front of his shirt where he had been hit. No open wounds whatsoever, even though there was a small patch on it where the presence of blood was obvious against the light blue of his shirt. It took only a split second for mike to realize what had happened, or at least what had most likely happened.

_There is a pressure point on the human body right where Foxy had hit him. If he had turned his hand and used the backside of the hook, enough force would knock Jeremy unconscious, making it look as though he had killed him, that is, if he had dropped him face down, which he did, hiding the wound from-_ Mike looked into the upper corner of the hallway and glared at the camera that was mounted by the ceiling. _The man on the loudspeaker has the tablet I'd bet._ He turned back to Jeremy. _The small bloodstain must have come from where Foxy had cut him under his chin. There was still blood on the hook._

Mike let Jeremy's head rest on his lap for a moment. He was just so glad that Foxy hadn't killed him. The pirate could have easily ended the teenager, so why didn't he? Now was not the time to consider this, however. As the thought crossed his mind, Mangle dropped suddenly from an opening in the ventilation system, causing Mike to shout out in surprise.

She quickly observed the scene before her. "What happened to _him_?" She gestured toward Jeremy's limp form, which had stirred slightly when Mike yelled.

"I'll give you a hint." Mike looked up at the tangled mess that swung above him, not releasing the ceiling. "It's what you were modeled after."

"You ran into Foxy again? You just have luck of the worst kind, don't ya?" Mike grumbled. They could have been killed once again and that's all she was going to say? "Honestly. Can you do nothing on your own?" Mangle began to lower herself from the ceiling, getting closer to Jeremy, who remained unmoving.

"Wait. What are you doing?" She reached down and swaddled the younger guard in a mess of wires and metal, slowly pulling him up toward the vent.

"I'll bring him to the prize counter and meet you there. You might want to hurry." She crawled away into the small tunnel system, bringing her new traveling companion along behind her. "We don't have much time."

Silence followed before Mike took off running after them through the corridors. He didn't bother with how much noise he was making. Granted, he was not good at planning ahead. But if you can't do that, you go with your gut instinct. And right now, his gut instinct was telling him that he was needed at the prize counter, not only for the animatronics, but for Jeremy's sake.

* * *

><p><strong>This. Took. Way. Too. Long. There was a long, several day period where I didn't write at all. Midterms are evil and I've been studying my little behind off. Either way, looks like they are about to reach the marionette again. *Evil Laughter* But no, seriously. It took me a while to decide between several ideas I had for this chapter. Each had their own charm and could have easily fit here. I'm hoping I'll get more inspiration to complete Chapter 9 quicker than this one. I also may rewrite previous chapters and put them on Archive Of Our Own, but I'm not to familiar with how the site works, so we'll see how that goes. It would be the same story, just rewritten to be longer and hopefully more detailed. LATER, FRIENDS!<strong>


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Assault**

He sprinted down the darkened hallway with no regard towards how much noise he was making. All Mike cared about at the moment was making sure he and Jeremy got out of this situation alive, and so far, that wasn't going very well.

With the younger guard in the hands of one of the animatronics, even though Mangle was asking for their help, he was still nervous. There was still something he didn't quite understand about the situation. But at this point, 'Father' seems to be the key to having those questions answered.

_The prize corner is just up ahead_. Whipping around the corner, Mike found himself facing a large, pitch black room. There were no signs of movement or life whatsoever. That is, until he heard a muffled noise, obviously a voice. The pitch was high, but not enough to be a small child, and not deep enough to be the Marionette. It was also muffled like someone had their mouth covered, and there was no static radio noise behind the words. It was most likely Jeremy.

Mike brought his index finger to his own mouth in a silence gesture before slowly entering the room. After Jeremy stopped making noise, it was completely silent again, aside from the occasional static from Mangle that was now making itself apparent.

He started to feel the way he used to, back when he was the night watchman at the old location. His body temperature rose and dropped quickly and dramatically as he slowly reached for his flashlight that was clipped to the side of his brown belt. _Hot_, cold, _hot_, cold. The unsettling feeling that he had was very prominent in his appearance. His eyes whipped around in their sockets, trying to see every corner of the room, even though the lack of light made it impossible.

His trembling hand eventually made it to his flashlight, but it was too late for him to react. Mike grunted loudly as he was thrown to the floor onto his back by a sudden force to his chest, as if someone had hit him with a truck. He thought that he heard Jeremy and Mangle shout his name, but his ears were ringing like an explosion had just gone off.

Once he had recovered from the blow, which only took a matter of seconds, he looked around again, but was still submerged in complete darkness. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as a long, low pitched laugh echoed around the room, making its source impossible to pinpoint.

"Back again I see." Mike picked himself up off the ground and finally was able to turn on his flashlight and begin scanning the room. "And you brought a new friend." The Flashlight's beam crossed the actual prize counter itself, revealing Mangle and Jeremy sitting behind it, peering over the counter at Mike with wide eyes. "Heard you and Father spoke." The voice surely belonged to the Marionette. What happened to him? "Seems like he might have you in check, huh?" The voice grew more and more menacing and psychotic with every word, prompting Mike to search the room with the small light more frantically. The beam of light shook noticeably as it scanned the walls.

Eventually, it came to rest on the upper corner of the room, just above the doorway from which Mike had entered. Marionette was tucked into that corner, long fingers digging into the walls, in a position that resembled a spider. All in one instant, everyone sprung into movement.

Marionette jumped off of the ceiling and was flying toward Mike, who was too slow to react. _Have to move!_, Mike screamed at himself in his own head, but his body just did not respond quickly enough. Lucky for him, Jeremy had jumped over the counter, and had avoided Mangle reaching out to secure him. The older guard was tackled out of the way by the full force of Jeremy's weight, just in time to avoid the screeching puppet.

Mike was left lying on his back with Jeremy on top of him, and the pair quickly recovered and got to their feet. As the Marionette shook some sense back into himself from impacting with the tile floor at a ridiculous speed, Mangle made her way across the ceiling and sat on the floor behind the two men.

"What are you doing, Mangle? You work with me, remember?" The Marionette slightly chuckled as it spoke. "Father won't be happy with you." An alarm suddenly went off in Mike's head. Marionette had been part of a small, neutral party, and was now apparently working with Father. Not to mention he was acting as if he were out of his mind. Something is surely wrong with him.

"Mangle, come here." Marionette ordered. The bundle of wires did not budge, but rather growled and increased the volume of the static noises that it emits occasionally. The groups were at a standoff. No one made a move of any kind. Mike and Jeremy could each hear their own heartbeat and stared at Marionette, unmoving.

Much to Mike's dismay, the loudspeakers of the room sparked to life, once again allowing Father to communicate with those in the room. "Check, 1, 2, 3. Aaaaaaaalrighty! Well then, Mr. Schmidt. Looks like Foxy spared your queen, lucky for you. And on top of that, your rooke has come to defend you." Mangle snarled at the camera, most likely coming to the conclusion that Father had the tablet as well. "However, that will not defend you against my knight, especially when you lose that rooke of yours."

The trio stepped toward each other, huddling in a group when he spoke. Mike shouted out in response.

"These guys have thoughts of their own and I've seen it! They may not be living creatures but they still have thoughts and feelings. They aren't just toys for you to control and neither are we!" Jeremy looked up at Mike, shocked as the older man pulled him in closer. The speakers in the room cracked out sounds of laughter, and Marionette glared over that them with an evil looking smile on his face.

"Unfortunately for you, Mr. Schmidt, that is incorrect. I do control these animatronics. And no one else can unless I give permission." Mike felt a boiling anger rise in his stomach. He really wanted to just punch this guy in the face. "For example," Mike suddenly felt the same way he felt just moments ago, and how he felt right before Father gave Foxy the command to kill Jeremy. _Hot_, cold, _hot_, cold. Both he and Jeremy began to panic at the thought of what he would do.

"Mangle," The pair whipped around and looked at the tangled mess. Her eyes had gone black, and had little white pinprick sized dots where her pupils were just moments ago. Mike immediately grabbed Jeremy's arm and dragged him quickly from the room and ran away from the room. They were just close enough to hear the last command given. "Attack."

It took Mangle mere seconds to catch up to the pair, running right at their heels, Marionette just behind her, laughing at the guards' panic. They ran a decent distance, until they found themselves bolting into the Parts and Service room. They had unfortunately cornered themselves.

"N-N-Nowhere to run now!" Mangle's voice sounded broken again, and much more threatening than before. Mike slowly backed into the corner, forcing Jeremy to stand behind him. _This kid is going to have a chance even if I don't. He's got his whole life ahead of him, I won't let him waste it on something this stupid!_ _Hot_, cold, _hot_, cold. Mangle slowly crept closer and closer to the trembling pair.

"M-Mike we need to run!" Jeremy was almost in tears he was panicking so badly. Mangle chuckled and Marionette stepped up beside her.

"Game" Marionette's smile widened to the point where it looked as if the smile cut his head in half. "Over."

Mike clenched his eyes shut as the animatronic duo lunged forward, both screeching as loud as possible. He braced himself for an impact that never came. It was instead replaced with a loud, metal clang, and a pained screech from Mangle. The older guard opened his eyes to find himself being shielded by a wall of dark red fur.

"Foxy!" Jeremy shouted out in surprise as the pirate turned around to face them.

"Aye, lad!" His eyes were no longer blackened out. His yellow gaze fell upon the two cornered humans as he stepped away to allow them to move. Mike was completely shocked. He had come to their rescue. But they were attacked by two animatronics, so who-?

"You filthy mess! How dare you impede me in my duties!?" Mangle was screeching insults like nobody's business.

"Filthy mess? Have you even _looked_ in a mirror lately?" Another voice sounded out, and it was no mystery to Mike who else had assisted in their rescue.

"Bonnie!" He called out to the large, purple rabbit and Jeremy looked over Mike's shoulder to catch a glimpse of the animatronic in question. As soon as Bonnie turned to face them, he let out a small gasp at the sight of his face. _Oh yeah_.

"His face had been torn off." Mike said to calm the young man. "I found that to help repair his face, and cover vital wires that could have been torn out that way." Jeremy simply nodded in response and looked back over to Bonnie again, who was now holding Mangle back with his pink cat arm as the Fox gnawed on the plastic of its shell.

"Foxy! We have to deal with this before Father checks this room!" Both animatronics were now caught in one-on-one fights with an attacker. _If Father sees what's going on, he may take control of Foxy again and possibly even Bonnie_. And with that, a brilliant idea crossed Mike's mind.

"Foxy! Can you get Marionette pinned down on his stomach!?" Mike shouted out as he ran to the corner of the room and snatched up the tool bag that he had been using to repair various animatronics. Without even a single word in response, Foxy grappled the Marionette to the ground, facing downward as Mike had instructed.

"Great job!" Mike called out as he ran to the pirate's side and dropped the bag, Jeremy kneeling beside the struggling puppet, who was yelling angrily at the group, but they simply ignored him. "Jeremy, hand me a phillips-head screwdriver." He immediately complied. It only took a moment for Mike to remove the access panel from the back of the Marionette's head.

Quickly reaching his hand inside, he yanked on something inside and Marionette stopped moving entirely. "Wow!" Jeremy whispered in surprise. "What did you do?" Mike looked back at him and was met with a wide-eyed, fascinated expression.

"I just pulled the main power cord and severed it. Once I fix whatever that guy did to him, I can reboot him by plugging this back in." Mike held up what _looked_ like an old ethernet cable.

"Damn you!" Mangle had wrestled free from Bonnie's grasp and had lunged toward Mike, who had no time to react to her swift attack. Mid leap, she clamped her sharp tooth-covered jaw down onto his shoulder, and he cried out in pain as they flew across the room.

"Michael!"

"Lad!"

"Mike!"

Three distressed voices called out to him as Mangle forced him to the ground, thrashing her head around with his shoulder still ensnared in a mess of metal teeth.

"GAAAAAAAH!" Everything except for his right shoulder felt cold and numb. Where Mangle was biting him, nothing but white-hot agony was registered. His eyes were locked open in a blank stare toward the ceiling as tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

Jeremy, Bonnie, and Foxy had all converged on the situation, but he didn't notice them. All sound had disappeared and all was silent. In the fading focus of his vision, Mike saw Mangle being torn away from him, jaws dripping with a dark red liquid. Blood. Quite a lot of it. Foxy and Bonnie were trying to hold back the thrashing mess to the best of their ability. Everything started rapidly getting slightly bigger and smaller, and Jeremy was in his face. It looked like he was shouting and was about to cry, with a look of complete terror and anguish. He must have been shaking him, but Mike couldn't tell, everything had gone numb.

Bonnie's face suddenly appeared in front of him as well, but it looked as if he was trying to console Jeremy more than anything. That is all that Mike could discern. Right as everything went dark, the last thing Mike registered, were two tears rolling down either side of Jeremy's face.

* * *

><p><strong>Im completely disgusted with myself for not getting this done sooner. Even though I still don't have wifi and am uploading this off of my phone data, it's still a struggle, but I HAD to get the next chapter out to you guys by Christmas. My little gift to you. In between family stuff and computer issues, I got it out and am very happy. Well, thanks for being patient with me. Chapter 10 by new years? I hope so. If the wifi in my house doesn't get fixed, I cant guarantee it unfortunately, but I'll try. Peace out, bros and Happy Holidays! :3<strong>


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**We're a team now**

It sounded as though someone was shouting his name, but it sounded far away, and getting closer. Louder and louder as he opened his eyes. Through his hazy vision, Mike could make out a figure leaning over him. Mostly purple, but pink in the face, and a touch of red between the two.

"Bonnie what the-?" He stopped himself mid sentence, voice sounding really hoarse. The rabbit held up his hand in a shushing gesture, and Mike took in his surroundings. Looking up past Bonnie, he spotted wood, a little pale in color, with a piece of gum stuck to it. To the left, Mangle was curled up into a ball, the multiple tangles of wires and metal that made up her body clicking together quietly as she shook, staring at him.

And to his right, he saw the Marionette, slumped up against the side of another large plank of wood, connected to the first one at a perfect right angle. Marionette appeared to be still deactivated, as he showed no signs of movement whatsoever.

Mike looked over to Mangle in confusion, only moving his head to the side to face her. He raised one eyebrow and squinted his eyes as to ask her _'What's going on? What happened?_'. Her response was to clasp her jaw shut tightly and shake her head to one side, as if directing him to look where she was notifying him to.

Still not moving a muscle so as to not make noise, he looked in what would be his sense of up, as he was lying on the floor on his back. The only thing he saw was a large darkened hallway at first, then it hit him. They were in the office again, under the desk. Listening to the gentle whirring of the electrical lights, he kept his gaze locked on the ominous space. _What are they so afraid of?_

And as if on cue, a large figure began to step into view. All Mike needed to see was a large, brown, plastic foot, and he could already tell who this was going to be. The new Fazbear band leader stepped into the light of the office. He looked almost exactly like the old Freddy, except more... cartoony, for lack of a better word. Or at least that's what Mike thought as the bear halted it's approach and looked around the seemingly empty room.

"They're a slippery bunch, aren't they?" was all he uttered before turning and leaving, without another word, or even to search the room. _Not a good sign_.

Bonnie then began to speak. "I can't believe you're still alive." and Mike was completely confused.

"Still alive? What do you m- GAH-!" The guard tried to sit up, only to have a rush of agony pulse through him, emanating from his shoulder. Before he could make any more loud noise, Bonnie clasped a hand over his mouth and gently sat him back down on the floor. Mangle quivered slightly and whimpered as Mike clenched his eyes shut and ground his teeth.

"I-I'm so sorry, Michael." She uttered quietly. "I don't k-know what came over me..." Her voice got quieter and quieter until it was barely above a whisper and practically inaudible. Looking back at the fox, she was hanging her head in shame, avoiding eye contact with him at all costs. And everything that had happened rushed back to him.

Marionette going crazy, Mangle under some sort of forced command, being cornered in Parts and Service, being rescued, Jeremy screaming his name as he was attacked... _Jeremy!_

"Where's Jeremy?" Mike glanced around again. "And Foxy for that matter?"

Bonnie and Mangle just looked at each other, as if silently asking who was going to tell him, and Mike prepared for the worst. "He isn't dead, is he?"

"Oh! Of course he isn't you dope!" Bonnie snapped with a kind of joking tone. "He and Foxy are back in Parts and Service still. Fred didn't see them when he came in, but he spotted us and we had to run."

Mike sighed heavily. This kid was extremely lucky. And Mike started thinking that he was worrying about him too much. _We barely know each other. What about that kid makes me feel so damn overprotective?_

"H-Hey." Mangle's voice cut him from his thoughts. "Would you mind trying to fix Marionette now?" She looked past the purple rabbit at her deactivated friend. "Seeing him like that..." She trailed off into silence again.

"It shouldn't be an issue. I just need to get the tools from Parts and Service and it shouldn't be a problem." Mike thought he saw Mangle smile a little, but even if she had, it quickly disappeared as the guard started dragging himself out from under the desk. "We should head back to Parts and Service rather than bringing the tools here. We run the risk of losing them during transport."

There was no verbal response. Bonnie simply nodded and picked up the deactivated puppet animatronic as Mangle crawled out of her small corner under the desk to slowly help Mike get to his feet.

He had to choke down shouting out whenever he moved his right arm. _She must have really done some damage._ Glancing down, Mike noticed that his wound had been crudely wrapped up with what looked like the edge of someone's clothing.

"The boy patched you up after you went down." Bonnie stated simply as he made his way out from under the desk, verbalizing what the man was thinking. "He was in an absolute panic, thinking you were dead and all. You really gave us a bad scare."

"Well there's no use dawdling on it right now." Mike simply turned on his heel and walked out into the main hallway, with the animatronics following behind. "We have to fix Marionette before anything else right now. We could use his help."

The group kept their eyes out for Fred. He left the office without really looking for them, which had made the entire group uncomfortable, as if he was planning something. He hadn't been waiting outside, as they discovered through their progress into the corridor. Where had he gone?

It didn't take long for the group to return to Parts and Service, but they stood outside rather than entering immediately. The door was off of its hinges entirely, lying on the floor inside. There was no signs of movement inside, but they all knew that did not necessarily mean that the room was empty.

Mike shined his flashlight into the room, to be greeted with the back wall, illuminated in the darkness. Taking a slow step inside, he quickly flicked the flashlight to the left. The camera sat mounted in the corner by the ceiling, as they did almost everywhere else. The walls were blank. On the right, however, sat the table, with the tools neatly sitting on top in the bag.

"Why's the room empty? They were still here when we left." Mangle began questioning. Of course Mike and Bonnie were wondering the same thing. Jeremy and Foxy wouldn't have just left when they now had Fred looking for them… unless they had been chased out too that is.

"Hold on." Bonnie had reached out and grabbed the guard's shoulder, making sure not to touch the injured one, when he tried to advance into the room. "Let me go first. Fred may not be very physically advanced, but he's clever. You can never know what he's planning, but we can try staying one step ahead. Mangle would be snapped in half and you with that bad arm wouldn't stand a chance."

He had a point but Mangle was rather offended by the "snapped in half" comment. The pair simply nodded and Bonnie handed off the Marionette to the wire bundle of an animatronic. "If anything happens, you two get to safety." That was all it took.

"I'm not running off again." Mike had put his foot down. He had already lost track off too many allies. Or maybe that's what Father was trying to do. Separate the group. Mike and Jeremy were nearly powerless on their own. And now that Jeremy was missing and he was hurt, he would have no way to defend himself. He would end up dead. "That's just what he wants. To weed out anyone who may be useful to our party."

The rabbit recoiled slightly, as if the conclusion that he had arrived at surprised him. "So you're saying that it's best to stay together. But if it's a trap, then we'll all get caught in it."

"Then we can all work together to get out of it!" Shockingly, it wasn't Mike who spoke up, but Mangle instead. Her face had changed from an expression of shame and sadness, to one of determination and hope. She wanted to save her friends. "With all of us working together, anyone we come across from this point on won't stand a chance. We need to be the team that comes out on top this time, or it's all over. This is our last chance, Bonnie. The final countdown. We can't afford to lose now."

_Well said!_ What would seem to be a smile crossed Bonnie's face, and he simply nodded and beckoned Mike forward. "I'll defend Marionette while you two investigate the room." Mangle chimed and curled into a nest-like shape, resting Marionette in the middle.

The pair cautiously made their way into the seemingly empty room, eyes snapping back and forth rapidly, searching for signs of movement. Bonnie watched the ceiling for signs of potential ambush while Mike made his way to the other side of the work bench, the one place he couldn't see initially when he stuck his head into the room.

Shining his flashlight over the structure, the image of the floor reflected back to him. The room was really empty, meaning Jeremy and Foxy were somewhere else in the building. And they could be in danger!

"No one's here. Where'd they go?" Bonnie and Mike looked to each other, hoping the other would have an answer to their question, but they were both clueless. That is until Mangle leaned her head into the doorway.

"Guys," she started shaking her head as a gesture to the hallway outside. "I can hear someone moving around. And it's getting closer."

The pair instantly converged on the doorway, staring out into the darkened corridors of the building once again. However, Mike was starting to notice that the building was getting brighter. _What time is it?_ While the others kept vigilant on the building's interior, he glanced down at his wristwatch. 8:47 A.M. He'd been here all night.

"Should we move on? Try to find them maybe?" They all just looked at each other for a moment, and then to Mike.

"Wait, what?" The two animatronics sat still and stared at him, waiting for an answer.

"Well," Bonnie explained. "You're the one leading this whole venture, aren't you?"

The guard began to reflect on the events of the past day. In a simple moment of curiosity, and maybe a slight concern, he decided to reenter the once place that he swore to himself the day he left that he would never return to, and look what's happened so far. Little by little, he has been given the chance to understand the animatronics rather than fear them. His entire perspective has been turned on its head.

On top of that, he met Jeremy, another person to have survived the onslaught of the night shift at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Someone else who understood the horrors that would lurk within the building at night. Although he didn't know much about the kid, Mike had grown rather attached to the skittish teen, though he wasn't sure why. However, that doesn't change the fact that he was still missing, along with Foxy. They had to be found.

"You remember what we said?" Mike smiled as he recalled the passionate words that were exchanged between the members of the group. "We aren't splitting the party. We have to find Foxy and Jeremy."

"But shouldn't we reactivate Marionette first?" Mangle chimed in. Mike slapped himself on the forehead. How could he have forgotten?

"Set him on the table" Mike directed as Bonnie went to retrieve the tool bag. The large rabbit dropped the case on the floor beside the table, causing it to make a loud thunking noise, as if he had forgotten that they were still hiding from Fred.

Everyone in the room froze, tensing up as all eyes were cast toward the now unguarded doorway. No movement.

"I'm so sorry." Bonnie whispered. He gently rifled through the bag until he came across the drill and case of bits that went with it, handing them off to the one most capable of using them.

"It's alright, just cover me in case things get a little hairy." He started to remove the panel from the back of the animatronic puppet's head once again. Both Bonnie and Mangle leaning over each shoulder in curiosity, watched as Mike simply took hold of the thick wire that he had dislodged, and put it back into place with a quiet 'click'.

A slight whirring sound began to emanate from the Marionette as Mike screwed the panel back into place, and braced himself for any conflict or assault. Instead, Marionette just sat up on the table and stared at the trio, and questions instantly started spilling out of the puppet.

"Why are we in Parts and Service? Why's Bonnie here? What happened to Mike's shoulder? What happened to me?" In the middle of the Marionette's little interrogation, Mangle simply threw what the others assumed was her arms around the tall, black figure, and pulled him into a hug.

"Don't scare me like that ever again, you jerk." Her voice sounded like she would be crying, if not for the fact that she was physically incapable of doing so. Marionette flinched at the sudden contact, but eventually placed his arms around the wire bundle and embraced the fox in return.

"I'm not entirely sure what happened," he started. "but I'll do whatever it takes to stop it next time. I'm sorry, Mangle." Mike heard a slight whimper beside him and looked up at Bonnie. From his appearance and the way he was behaving, it seemed as though he was crying, too. But not from sadness, from happiness.

Mike couldn't even imagine how they must feel right now. Being split from someone you care about, no matter what the reason, is still hard. Just like his separation from Doll when he left to finish his education. He couldn't just keep her waiting, and did what he thought was right. It still weighed on his heart until this very day. But now, Mike had finally decided. _No matter what it takes. I will get out of here alive, and I will see Doll again. Even if it's just one last time_.

Marionette looked up from his hug and directly at Mike. Raising his hand, he beckoned the man to join the hug, but he waved his hands as a gesture of declination. As he did so, a large hand was placed on his back, and he was forcefully shoved forward. Bonnie chuckled slightly as he was pulled into the bundle, and the rabbit soon joined them.

Everyone stayed like that for a long moment before the group broke apart. Bonnie checked outside of the doorway to make sure that there was still no one there.

"Guys, we need to get moving." Mike stated flatly, trying to hide the warmth in his voice. "We still have to locate Jeremy and Foxy."

"Wait. Jeremy?" Marionette questioned. "As in Fitzgerald, the night watchman?"

Mike turned away from the door to face Marionette as he spoke. As he got off of the table, the puppet seemed to carry a concerned tone in his voice.

"I haven't heard that name in ages. But why would we need to find him?"

Mike was fairly confused now. "He's in the building somewhere, presumably with Foxy."

"He wouldn't be here, there's no way." Bonnie took a step forward in an attempt to silence the puppet, but his motion was not noticed until the words had already escaped. "Jeremy Fitzgerald killed himself years ago, so he couldn't be here."

The words hit Mike like a slap to the face. There was no possible way that someone who had died was roaming the halls of Freddy's, that is unless they were possessing an animatronic, like in the case of the murdered children. And Jeremy was surely there. There was blood left on Foxy's hook when he had attacked them in the hallway, so how could what they were saying be true?

"Are you completely certain?" Bonnie seemed just as befuddled as Mike was. "I mean, he really is here. I saw him with my own two eyes."

Marionette nodded. "He was fired after '87 and died afterward, supposedly hung himself in his house, and the wife and kid found his body."

"But that makes no sense. He was working here back when I was reactivated in '96, working the night shift after Mike left." Bonnie shrugged. "I just don't see how he could possibly have killed himse-"

"The child you mentioned." Mike cut Bonnie off to speak to Marionette once more. "Was it a son or daughter?"

"From what I heard the news reporters saying when they showed up here, it was his son. Why do you ask?"

"Jeremy. The name Jeremy Fitzgerald could be used to members of the same household, divided by the two generations in the family. In other words, the son could have also been named Jeremy Fitzgerald." All three animatronics stared at him as he made his deductions like he was some kind of world-class detective. "In other words, Jeremy Fitzgerald did end his own life." Mike paused for a long moment, and everyone looked completely confused until he spoke again.

"But Jeremy Fitzgerald Jr. would have lived on in this scenario, maybe even finding his way into the same position his father was in, guarding himself every night from the animatronics that roamed the halls of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. After all, like father, like son."

Mike's speech came to an end, and all three animatronics stared at him in awe for a long moment, before Bonnie caught the others' attention.

"We keep getting distracted!" He ran for the door immediately. "Come on, we've got to-" and he suddenly went flying backwards, hitting the wall opposite the door and slumping to the ground, as another animatronic walked in. Fred, much to the group's dismay.

"Subtlety is not really your thing is it?" All was still in the room. No one dared make a move against Fred, not in a situation like this one, when he had you cornered.

Mike felt his heart drop into his stomach as another set of animatronic footsteps grew suddenly louder as another entered the room. Toy Chica. But that was not the worst of it. She was dragging something along behind her. Whatever it was struggled very little to not at all, as if it had been beaten into submission. And when Mike finally saw what her 'cargo' was, he felt as if he wanted to tear the bird limb from limb.

Jeremy was pulled into the room by the fluffy brown hair on his head, now matted in particular places with a particular liquid that made his hair look much darker. It looked like blood.

It took everything he had not to tackle the chicken to the floor, but he had to remain calm, for all their sakes. And he came to realize something else, too. Where was Foxy?

"Fred," the bird began to explain. "I found this little rat lurking in the halls." With that, she threw Jeremy forward, sending him sprawling onto the floor in front of her. "Seems like he thought he could avoid me. Big mistake." A menacing smile crossed the animatronic chicken's face.

Mike didn't even bother listening to the animatronic's conversation as Bonnie and Mangle spoke to the toy models. He was completely transfixed on Jeremy as he slowly lifted his own head off the tile floor and mouthed his name. And Mike instantly ran to his side, or at least he tried to.

Right before he reached his destination, the guard was flung to the side with a brutal kick from Fred, and Mike froze in place, slowly looking up at the bear who was now glaring down at him… with the black pinprick eyes. "Slow down there, friend. We haven't even gotten to the point yet."

"You see," The newly dubbed Chirp began to speak again. "we can't let you all continue to defy Father's orders." Her eyes had the same haunting look that Fred's now had as she snatched Mike up by the collar of his shirt, wrenching his injured shoulder in the process, but he have no hints to the pain that the sudden jerk had put him in as she continued to rant.

"Fred, this one is out of his suit." _How could I have forgotten about that!?_ He wanted to punch himself in the head for forgetting about their eyesight, and how they saw him and Jeremy as endoskeletons. As a matter of fact, that applied to Foxy, Mangle, and even Marionette as well. Why were they working with him if they thought he was an endoskeleton?

"Well, we fall back to the old rules." Fred said confidently. "I need you to watch them while I go fetch the spare suit." Chirp simply nodded as Fred left the room rather nonchalantly.

All was silent after that, but it was just the calm before the storm. Everyone was quiet not out of relief, but out of fear. They had to escape, but they had to avoid Chirp to do so. While the others were looking for a new angle, a thought crossed Mike's mind. _We're in Parts and Service. Shouldn't the spare suits be in here? Why would he leave?_

A loud thud broke the silence , and everyone collectively jumped, roaming eyes snapping to face their foe, and finding Bon-bon standing in the room as well.

"Chirp, that's enough. You need to stop this." From his simple statement, Chirp looked completely horrified and color returned to her eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me! You're on our side, Bon-bon! Why would you say that?" The blue bunny changed his position from behind the chicken, to in front of her, arms spread outward in a protective stance.

"Because I made a deal" he said with a heavy tone behind his words. "and I don't go back on my word. Unlike you of course. You said you'd trust me no matter what, Chirp. And I need you to trust me now."

In the long tension that followed, Mike remembered the last conversation he had with Bon-bon. It ended with the deal that the animatronic had proposed. That if he was able to gain Foxy's allegiance, he would also follow him.

"I did say that, didn't I?" Chirp's head had dropped in a depressed looking slump as she spoke but then suddenly snapped back up with the black eyes again. "That was before you decided to betray us!" The chicken suddenly darted forward, trying to tackle Bon-bon. Rather than making contact, she fell hard to the floor as Bonnie threw her aside.

"You're gonna pay for that you hunk of j-" Chirp's insults were silenced as she was sat on by a new arrival to the commotion.

"Ahoy, lass! These be me friends yer messin' with!"

"Foxy!" Jeremy finally chimed in and Mike snapped his head to the side to check on the kid. In the commotion, he had dragged himself into a sitting position against the far wall, and was still sitting there. Mike finally ran to his side and gripped the kid's shoulders, shaking him slightly as he spoke and ignoring the pain that his own actions were causing his injured shoulder.

"Jeremy what happened to you? Are you alright?" A seemingly endless stream of questions spilled from the guard's mouth as Jeremy started to chuckle.

"You sound like my mother now." His voice was very weak and dry sounding. "She was always concerned for my well being, especially when I started working here like my father did. His name was Jeremy, too, you know?" _So he is a junior_.

"Hold on." Foxy said flatly as he held Chirp's mouth shut. Listening hard, the group heard the sound of animatronic footsteps once again. Fred was coming back!

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the long wait and any poor editing. I have had no wifi for the past several weeks and am uploading this off of the last of my cellular data. I made it much longer as an apology for the ridiculous wait time. I probably wont be able to upload again till the wifi's fixed, or my data resets later this month. In the meantime ill keep writing, and will put out Chapter 11 ASAP. Meanwhile, Ill miss you guys. See you when everything is fixed. :3<strong>


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